Waterless urinals ... mysterious moaning pipes

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Q: Thanks, Ed, for all the advice you give us women along with the men. It's very important to me since I'm the only women in the house with my husband and four young boys. As you can imagine, our toilet is flushed all day long and we're tired of wasting all that water. I just read one of your recent articles about waterless urinals and my question is, can they be installed in any home? Also, what will I need to do to maintain them? -- Ruth in IndianaA: Ruth, with the amount of "number one" bathroom traffic in your home, you can expect to save thousands of gallons of water a year! Not to mention the fact that if you're on a septic system, you can expect lower maintenance bills.Waterless urinals are becoming popular for residential installations because they are usually pretty easy to install in most bathrooms. Since they are a "waterless" fixture, there is no reason to run any water lines to the urinal, all you should need is a properly sized drain line. However, do not lose sight that a waterless urinal is a plumbing fixture and local codes have to be followed along with taking out permits, if required. I recommend that you call a licensed and insured plumber for installation. Anyway, once the waterless urinal is installed, you need to follow the manufacturer's recommendations for proper operation and maintenance of the fixture. The ones that I'm familiar with use a "liquid trap seal" to keep out odors and dispose of the urine. This trap seal is made from an environmentally friendly, odor absorbing fluid that floats inside the urinal trap. The urine simply passes through this fluid and goes down the drain. As for maintenance, once a day the urinal needs to be sprayed with a special cleaning agent. Also, twice a month a small bucket of water needs to be poured into the urinal to wash out the trap, followed by a cup of the drain fluid to refill and seal the trap.Once you get the routine down, it should be no different than cleaning your toilet. Speaking of which, since the boys will be using the urinal most of the time, your toilet should no longer be the victim of a "bad aim," and you'll probably be cleaning your toilet less.Q: Ed, my wife and I are going crazy trying to figure out what is causing a loud moan from our plumbing system every night. It's so loud that it wakes us up from a sound sleep. It only happens after midnight and we can actually feel things shaking in the walls. What can this be? Please help before I start opening up the walls. -- Alfred in New MexicoA: Before you open up any walls, you need to check out a few things. In my book "Ed Del Grande's House Call" I stress that most noises in a plumbing system can be traced in part to high water pressure. You need to make sure your water pressure is under 80 psi to meet most local codes. My gut feeling on this one is that you have a slow leak in your toilet flapper. This is why the noise happens late at night, when the toilets sits unused. Water may be leaking by the flapper until the tank water level drops to a point when the ball cock float finally has to open a bit to let in more water. That tiny opening of the fill valve along with high water pressure behind it can cause an unbelievable roar from the plumbing system. I have heard it myself many times. So, check your flapper first before you cause an even bigger flap in your home by opening up the walls for no reason.(Master Contractor/Plumber Ed Del Grande is known internationally as the author of the book "Ed Del Grande's House Call" and for hosting TV shows on Scripps Networks and HGTVPro.com. For information visit eddelgrande.com or write eddelgrande(at)hgtvpro.com. Always consult local contractors and codes. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com)